OUT OF THE BOX, the iPod is basically a one-trick pony. The games and applications found under the “Extras” menu get old faster than Britney. But thanks to four years of work by a crafty group of programmers, you can now use your iPod’s processing power and scroll-wheel interface to play dozens of games, record voice memos, or browse Wikipedia, all without messing up the existing software or your music.

The secret is iPodLinux, an alternative operating system you can install free alongside the existing one on any iPod model. Once geeks-only turf, the Linux option can now be added simply by downloading and double-clicking a new automated installer. Find a few of our favorite new ‘Pod programs below, and see http://popsci.com/ipodlinux for detailed instructions and links to the latest apps.

PUT LINUX ON YOUR iPOD
10 MINUTES FREE EASY HARD
The basic installer will load the core Linux system, the Podzilla interface, and a good selection of games and applications.

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Download the installer for your computer’s platform [Windows, Linux or Mac] and your iPod model from http://www.ipodlinux.org/.
Connect your iPod in “disk” mode, and run the installer. Choose which OS you want your iPod to load by default.
Reset your iPod (on most models, hold down “menu” and “select”). Press the “<<" key during reboot to launch the non-default system.

MORE i’POD APPS

1. ENCYCLOPODIA
http://www.encyclopodia.sourceforge.net/

Load all of Wikipedia–searchable and with working links between articles –into less than a gigabyte of space. Note: If you have Encyclopodia, it’s the only Linux app you can run.

2. iDOOM
http://www.idoom.hyarion.com/

Play the popular first-person shooter Doom with crisp graphics (especially on color screens) and an easy-to-use interface. Just download and copy the “iDoom” folder to your iPod.

3. iBOY
http://www.sourceforge.net/projects/iboy

Play nearly all the original Nintendo Game Boy’s classics on your iPod–just search for the ROM files online. The controls can be awkward, but having Zelda on your iPod is worth it.

By: Mahoney, John, Popular Science, Jul2006

1. Make the Most of Your Keyboard
You use your keyboard constantly, but it’s easy to forget how powerful it is. Avoid moving your hand to your mouse — and save rime in the long run — by learning keyboard shortcuts for frequently used commands.

Learn Shortcuts To learn keyboard shortcuts, first check your favorite applications’ menus — often you’ll see the shortcuts noted right next to the commands themselves. Here are a few good ones:

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1 In Apple’s Mail, press #-shift-N to check for new mail or #-shift-F to forward a message.
2 In Microsoft Word ($239; www.microsoft.com/mac), #-option-R brings up the thesaurus, #-option-P switches to Page Layout view, and #-option-N switches to Normal view.В 
3 In Safari, hop to your home page by pressing #-shift-H. To check bookmarks, press #-option-B.В 
4 In iChat, show or hide your Buddy List by pressing #-1.В 
5 In iTunes, press the spacebar to play or pause.
Create Your Own In Mac OS X 10.3 and later, you can set keyboard shortcuts for any menu command and for most applications. (This won’t apply to some older programs or anything running in Classic.) For instance, you may want to create a shortcut for removing attachments from messages in Mail since there’s no preset shortcut for that command (Message: Remove Attachments).

Go to the Keyboard Shortcuts tab of the Keyboard & Mouse preference pane. Click on the plus sign (+) and choose your target application from the Application pop-up menu. Type the exact name of the menu command in the Menu Title field — for example, Remove Attachments. Then place your cursor in the Keyboard Shortcut field and press the key combination you want to assign to the command. Click on Add and you’re set. (For more information, see “Save Time with Shortcuts” at macworld.com/0337.)

2. Personalize the Finder
The Finder is at the center of everything you do on your Mac. Use its features to get easier access to the programs and folders you use most.

Use the Sidebar By default, when you open a Finder window, OS X displays certain folders (such as Desktop and Documents) in its sidebar (the column on the window’s left side). You can add your own items here, too. Either drag a folder to the sidebar or select a folder and press &-T. Now you’re one click away from its contents.

Customize the Toolbar Say there’s an application you use often — but not often enough to add it to the Dock. The toolbar located at the top of the Finder window is the perfect place to store a shortcut for it. Drag the application’s icon to the top of the Finder window and wait for the cursor to change to a plus sign. When you release the mouse, the icon stays in the toolbar. (If you change your mind, control-click on the icon and choose Remove Item from the contextual menu.) From there, you can click on the icon to launch the program, or drag a file on the icon to open the file.

Switch between Views You probably know that you can set Finder windows to icon, list, and column views via the toolbar. But did you know that you can do the same from the keyboard? Press #-1 for icon view, #-2 for list view, and #-3 for column view.

3. Corral Your E-mail
Sorting through the barrage of e-mail flooding your inbox can be frustrating. Sometimes it can be a headache just to determine which messages you’ve read and which ones are new.

The Tiger version of Apple’s Mail includes a great organizational tool: smart mailboxes. Use them to create a mailbox that shows only unread messages. Select Mailbox: New Smart Mailbox, click on the left pop-up menu, and select Message Is Unread. Name the mailbox something like Unread Mail and save it. Now, when you click on this mailbox, you’ll see only messages you haven’t yet looked at.

You can create other types of smart mailboxes — for instance, one for messages from specific contacts (select From Contains contact name) or companies (select From Contains domain name). Or you can create a mailbox for messages containing certain keywords (Subject Contains keyword or Entire Message Contains keyword). To learn more, see “Use Mail’s Smarts” at macworld.com/1195.

4. Preserve Web Pages
When browsing the Web, you probably happen upon pages you’d like to save for future reference. Sure, you could bookmark them, but the contents — or the URL itself — may have changed when you go back, and that means spending extra time searching.

Using Safari The easiest way to save Web pages is to use Safari As Save As Web Archive feature. Select File: Save As; then choose Web Archive from the Format pop-up menu. Doing so saves a special archive file that retains the text, images, and layout of the original page.

Going Further For even more control over Web archives, use a special tool. You’ll rind a wide variety out there: Rick Cranisky’s SiteSucker (free; www.sitesucker.us), Limit Point Software’s Blue Crab ($25; http://www.limit-point.com/), and Softchaos’s Webstractor ($80; http://www.softchaos.com/) are just a few. My current favorite is Bare Bones Software’s Yojimbo ($39; http://www.barebones.com/), an information-management application designed to store notes, serial numbers, passwords, Web archives, and more.

To save a page to Yojimbo as a Web archive, copy the page’s URL, press Yojimbo’s hot key (F8 by default) to display the Quick Input panel, press 3ВЈ-5, and then press return. Open Yojimbo to view your Web archives or search them by keyword.

5. Find Files Faster
If you’re anything like me, you probably hate constantly navigating through several levels of folders to locate the file or application you want to open. To save time, use a launcher.

LaunchBar This excellent $20 program from Objective Development (macworld.com/0954) lets you open applications and files without taking your fingers off the keyboard. To open iTunes, for example, press LaunchBar’s activation keys (#-spacebar by default); it will appear below the menu bar. Next, type a few letters from the name of the application you want to open — iTunes, in this case. LaunchBar reveals a list of programs, files, and folders that contain these letters. Use the arrow keys to select iTunes and press return to open it. The program learns your shortcuts, so after you use a certain letter combination a few times for an item, that item’s name jumps to the top of the list.

Butler Another cool utility is Peter Maurer’s free (donations accepted) Butler (macworld.com/0286). It performs many of the same tricks as LaunchBar, but it also has powerful bookmark-management features, multiple Clipboards, and the ability to assign keyboard shortcuts for many common actions.

6. Get a Smarter Rodent
Apple has long clung to the one-button mouse as a symbol of simplicity. But additional buttons can save you hundreds of clicks each day, especially if you program them for common actions, such as double-clicking or control-clicking, If you’re still using a one-button Apple mouse, consider upgrading. If you already own a multibutton mouse, make sure you’ve programmed the buttons to maximize productivity.

Your Apple Mouse Apple’s Mighty Mouse ($49; http://www.apple.com/) offers four buttons, though you need OS X 10.4 to customize it fully. In the Keyboard & Mouse preference pane, go to the Mouse tab. Here you can program the extra buttons to launch Dashboard, ExposГ©, or any application you use frequently.

For more customization options, check out the $20 SteerMouse software (macworld.com/1196), which lets you program your Mighty Mouse’s buttons to perform double-clicks, keyboard shortcuts, scrolling, and more. The software even lets you program separate commands for different applications. Plus, it supports both Panther and Tiger.

Other Mice Don’t mind if your mouse and Mac aren’t a matched set? Consider an input device from a company such as Kensington or Logitech. Using the included software, you can program buttons to do such things as emulate a double-click, invoke keystrokes (say, #-S for Save), eject a CD, or launch a Web page.

By: McElhearn, Kirk, Macworld, Jun2006

Many small business and home users rely on local computer repair shops. But who can you trust? The nonprofit consumer organization Center for the Study of Services has just published the results of a survey it did of local stores in seven cities that do computer repair, along with providing tips about computer repair in general.

Computer repair ratings for individual stores are available through its magazine, Consumer’s Checkbook, for the seven metropolitan areas that the organization currently serves: Boston, Chicago, Philadelphia, Puget Sound, San Francisco/Oakland/San Jose, Twin Cities and Washington, D.C. But more general information applies elsewhere around the country as well.

I talked with the president of the Center for the Study of Services, Robert Krughoff, who’s a hands-on, jack-of-all-trades kind of boss. Not only does he head up the organization, which he founded 30 years ago, he also writes most of the articles in the magazine, which is published twice a year, including the one on computer repair. Other articles in this month’s issue deal with computer buying, video equipment repair, local pest control firms and other subjects.

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“I enjoy being involved in the various articles, perhaps more involved than my staff wishes I were,” said Krughoff, who has a law degree and an undergraduate degree in economics and previously worked for the federal government. His organization has 35 employees, and each article is the result of the work of a team of around 10 researchers.

The researchers comparison price shop and survey the magazine’s own readers as well as the readers of Consumer Reports magazine (the organizations publishing each magazine are completely independent) for their experiences and opinions about local stores and service firms.

Krughoff offered good advice about getting a personal computer fixed and about helping to prevent a computer from breaking. For more detailed advice, buy the magazine, available through its Web site.

Here’s what’s most important to keep in mind about computer repair, Krughoff said:

1 It can be better to take a broken PC to a local repair shop than have a repair technician come to your office or home. Though this is less convenient, the repair shop will have access to better diagnostic tools there. It will have time to observe the problem if it’s intermittent. And the cost will be lower.

2 Write down the exact nature of the problem you experience when it occurs, including what you see on your screen, what you hear and how long the problem lasts.

3 Before the repair work begins, get a written estimate and request that you receive an invoice afterward detailing the parts repaired or replaced, the cost of the material and labor for each, and the warranty on each.

4 Pay by credit card, which will provide you with some protection if a dispute arises later.

5 Use your computer as soon as you get it back, and notify the repair shop immediately if you’re still experiencing the problem.

To help prevent a personal computer from breaking in the first place, Krughoff said, don’t let it get too hot by leaving it in the sun or closed car, and don’t use a power saw or other piece of heavy equipment on the same electrical circuit used by your computer. It’s best to reserve a circuit for use only by your computer.

Krughoff recommended that before taking your computer to a local repair shop, first turn the equipment off then turn it back on again. Also, check to make sure that all cables are securely plugged into equipment and outlets.

The organization’s survey about computer repair revealed interesting facts about computer repair in general. The quality ratings for computer repair shops were lower on average than for almost every other service field that it has examined. Both quality and price among individual stores can vary dramatically. Computer superstores received worse quality ratings on average from consumers than smaller stores.

Finally, it pays to comparison shop first, since some stores, for example, charge twice the fee of others for a diagnosis and estimate and seven times the fee of others to replace a PC’s hard drive.

By: Goldsborough, Reid, Black Issues in Higher Education

Virus Protection Tips
An article from the online magazine Viewz, titled “Virus Protection Tips” (www.viewz.com/features/virustips.shtml), provides some excellent tips that can help protect your school from computer viruses:

1. Install anti-virus software and keep the virus definitions up to date.

2. Don’t automatically open attachments and make sure your e-marl program doesn’t do so either. This will ensure that you can examine and scan attachments before they run. Refer to your e-mail program’s safety options or preferences menu for instructions.

3. Scan all incoming e-marl attachments. Be sure to run each attachment you plan to open through the anti-virus check. Most anti-virus software can be set up to check files automatically.

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4. Update anti-virus software frequently. An anti-virus program is only as good as the frequency- with which it is updated. New viruses, worms and Trojan horses are created daily, and variations of them can slip by software that is not current. Most anti-virus software is easy to update online, with options to do so automatically.

5. Avoid downloading files you can’t be sure are safe. This includes freeware, screen savers, games and any other executable program — any files with an “.exe” or “.com” extension. If you have to download from the Internet, be sure to scan each program before running it.

6. Don’t share floppies. Even a well-meaning friend may unknowingly pass along a virus. Label your floppies clearly so you know they’re yours. If a friend passes you a floppy, suggest an alternative method of sharing flies. In addition, always be sure to scan all floppies before using them.

7. Use common sense. It’s always better to err on the side of safety. If you’re unsure about an attachment, delete it — especially if it’s from a source you don’t recognize. Also, beware of strange links or unexpected attachments that come through instant messaging programs.
Online Virus Protection Resources:

Symantec’s Virus Encyclopedia
http://securityresponse.symantec.com/avcenter/vinfodb.html

Symantec’s site provides a synopsis of the latest virus-related threats, including information on risk, threat names, day the threat was identified, and day a virus definition was added to protect against the threat.

Safe Computing Guide
www.trendmicro.com/en/securit?/general/guide/overview.htm

Trend Micro offers a step-by-step online guide to help you keep using today’s advanced computer information access technology without falling prey to viruses and other malicious code.

VirusList.com
www.viruslist.com

This site bills itself as “the biggest virus encyclopedia,” covering everything from hoaxes, new viruses with descriptions, warnings and advice, new technologies, events, as we as online comment and discussion forums.

Virus Information Library
www.networkassociates.com/us/security/vil.htm

Network Associates’ site provides detailed information on where viruses come from, how they infect your system, the names of viruses, as well as current threats and how to remove them from your system.

Computer Virus Timeline
www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0872842.html

This Information Please site has a comprehensive timeline of viruses, starting in 1949 when theories for self-replicating programs were first developed. The site also offers tips on protecting yourself from computer viruses.
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By: Rajala, Judith B., T.H.E. Journal